


Umbrellas and Classic Novels

by Dance_Elle_Dance



Category: Gossip Girl
Genre: Dair is everything, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Romance, Snark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 05:21:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4653888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dance_Elle_Dance/pseuds/Dance_Elle_Dance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Don't get used to this, Humphrey. I'm not going to be Mother Theresa every day. Besides, not even you deserve to be pelted with rain, even though that outfit is hideous." (Originally posted on 5/24/10.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Umbrellas and Classic Novels

**Author's Note:**

> Re-post of another Dair. I honestly will never stop shipping this. The show turned into a horrid mess toward the end but the only bright spot was the fact that Dair happened. Geez. Please enjoy!

This has got to be one of _those_ days, Dan Humphrey was sure of it as he tried to make it to class without being soaked to the bone.

He guessed it started with his English Comp class, which had gone so awful he didn't even want to think about it. The paper wrote had gotten a terrible grade, and the teacher even had the balls to point him out to the class because it was so… _immature._

Then, naturally, he had gotten a Gossip Girl blast sent to his phone. Something along the lines of _"Spotted: N and V…"_ something or other. All he knew was that Vanessa and Nate were off to some place for Spring Break - again something that wasn't going to happen for him until about one more week of school passed - and that the mysterious blogger had used several puns and clever phrases to insinuate what they were planning on doing.

Unfortunately, after just splitting with her, this left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Did he mention that his umbrella promptly broke when he stepped outside of the English building?

Sighing as he shielded his head from the pouring rain with just his algebra binder, he raced to get to his class, which was, even more unfortunately, _algebra._

He was pretty sure that teacher hated him, too.

Maybe Dan was just getting down on himself. He guessed that everyone had days like this, they just chose to handle them in ways that suited them. And the dark haired male obviously liked to handle his problems by using words that would make little old ladies faint.

His feet chose that moment to splash a particularly large puddle in every direction, soaking the bottom of his pants and socks and…

 _FML,_ Dan thought with a rage that was uncharacteristic to him as he slowed down to a steady jog.

He must not have been paying attention, for he most likely would have seen the impeccably styled brunette in front of him. So, it was a shock to him when she shouted his name in her demure, yet commanding voice.

Dan stopped, knowing that this wasn't the smartest thing to do, what with Noah's Flood happening all over again at his humble little college.

She stood in front of him, unaffected by the wind and rain and, surely it was hailing, it had to be as hard as the pellets of rain were hitting him. Dan chalked this up to him being melodramatic - going to a school where Blair, Chuck, and Serena all had gone had to rub off on him sometime or another - and groaned as the fox-like brunette looked him up and down.

"The hell are you doing, Humphrey." It was more a statement than a question and Dan couldn't help but narrow his brows.

" _Trying_ to get to class, until you so conveniently stopped me."

Blair Waldorf scoffed, tossing some of that thick, glossy hair over her shoulder and raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Don't get snippy with me, Brooklyn."

"Why shouldn't I?" Dan said, and his voice was exasperated. He looked at Blair, wondering how she was wearing a skirt in this weather and to still have it look like she'd just walked off of one of her precious runways. She was holding a clear umbrella above her head, and looked quite comfortable - and _dry_.

"Because I have your salvation," Blair said smugly, with an attractive smile on that full mouth of hers.

"You're not God. You can't make it stop raining," Dan said bluntly. "And you're not my English teacher, so you can't say my paper was the best thing you've ever read in all of your years."

Blair rolled her large brown eyes and reached out and grabbed Dan's thin shoulder. He was surprised at how much heat came from just her small hand, but he didn't mind - he was freezing at the moment. She pulled him to the umbrella and stuck him underneath it, so that he wasn't getting thrashed with the rainwater.

"Algebra, right?" Blair said, looking at his books. "Good. We have class in the same building."

Dan felt his face heating up. They were so close, packed in together underneath this ridiculous umbrella that shouldn't be able to hold up underneath such strong winds.

It was decided, Blair had super powers.

 _Now there's an idea for a novel,_ Dan said as he and Blair started walking toward the math building. _Manhattan socialite develops superhuman powers._

He stole a glance at Blair, and had a vision of her in a tight, superhero uniform that left little to the imagination.

 _Right. Not a good idea to think about that when she's five centimeters away from you,_ he thought as she rounded them away from a group of other students with umbrellas.

Somehow, he couldn't stop staring at her. She was so close - almost too close, but somehow he didn't mind. It felt kind of nice, being next to her like this. His cold frame was beginning to warm up being next to her. He could even smell the faintest traces of the strawberry - most likely from the shampoo she used.

It was peaceful, despite the howling rain and the bruising rain.

Blair's voice interrupted his quiet reverie rather unpleasantly, because no matter how sweet she smelled or how warm she was, she had a razor sharp tongue to accompany both of those pluses, "Don't get used to this, Humphrey. I'm not going to be Mother Theresa every day. Besides, not even you deserve to be pelted with rain, even though that outfit is hideous."

"Right," Dan scoffed, but he saw the joking tone in her eyes, and it made him feel a bit better. Maybe he wasn't as hated as he thought he was by the prestigious Waldorf, even though her comment still made him look down at his soaked clothes and wonder what he did wrong when getting dressed this morning.

They walked across campus for what seemed like forever. Blair's calm, confident pace was far different than the frantic gallop Dan had adopted earlier. The dark haired man didn't mind, though. Somehow, the more he was around Blair, the more he seemed to understand her, if that made any sense at all.

He hadn't expected her to speak to him unless she was going to make a jab at him, so the next words out of her mouth were quite unexpected to him. "What was your paper on? The one that the professor hated so much?"

Dan felt himself flush even more than he already had - the close proximity to her, a somewhat stranger, had been more than enough to trigger his shy reflexes - and then he looked at her.

She was gazing straight ahead, every now and then looking down at her feet, watching her high heels as they sloshed through the muck. Now that he got a closer look, her white stockings were speckled with mud, as were her white, white shoes. Somehow, this made it easier to talk to her. As if her perfection was marred somehow, and that made them equals.

He wanted to ask her why she wanted to know, but knew that he'd either get a smarmy answer or never get an opening to talk to her again.

" _Dracula._ "

A smirk appeared on Blair's lips. "The book, I suppose, if it was in English class."

Strange. It looked like Blair actually had read this novel. This new bit of information shocked him, and he found himself smiling despite himself. He had expected her to look at him with disgust, or something of that sort, or say some kind of snark-laden comment about it. He didn't even know she liked those kinds of books. She looked like the type to read old romance novels, like _Pride and Prejudice_ or _Wuthering Heights_ or something just as feminine.

"Yeah," he said after a while. "You read it?"

The rain seemed to beat harder against her umbrella as Blair scoffed, "Of course."

"You don't look like the type…"

"To what?" The brunette had a large grin on her face now. It turns out he had more in common with her than he had ever thought. "Read something that isn't _Elle_ or _Vogue_? Sorry to burst your bubble, Humphrey, but I like the classics as well."

Dan had to laugh at that. She might be infuriating sometimes - okay, well, most of the time - but she was nice to have around without all the pressure to be the best or anything like that. Times like this made Dan think that they could actually get along and be friends, despite him being "Cabbage Patch" and her being "Queen B."

Soon after that - _Too soon,_ Dan thought absentmindedly - they arrived at the overhang that covered the space in front of the door to the math building.

Blair took the umbrella from over both of them and shook it out, small droplets of rain scattering everywhere, flecking on the cement as well as on the two people who had walked beneath its shelter not five seconds ago.

She put the umbrella in its casing and slipped it elegantly into her large purse - how had he not noticed _that_ particular item until now? - and looked at him with intelligent brown eyes. A small smile made its way into her eyes before her lips curved in that direction and she gave a slight laugh at him, no doubt at his appearance.

"Maybe next time you'd do something more your style," she joked, and the malicious intent was gone. "Like _Huckleberry Finn_."

"We can't all be lifeless bloodsuckers, Blair," he replied, not missing a beat.

Shaking her head and letting out a laugh that felt musical to his ears, Blair left him, walking into the math building like she owned the place, and leaving a newly enamored Dan Humphrey behind.


End file.
